"Thank you, I didn't know your grandma was living in New Orleans, it must be beautiful, I'd love to visit the city... And talking about a celebration, are you going out with the girls this weekend? I'd love to buy you all a drink..."
"Of course, I mean, there was nothing special planned but you know we're always willing to support successful women who kick the asses of their stupid bosses... metaphorically, of course. I'll call them and we'll look for a restaurant to grab a bite and later, we'll see, maybe we'll go to a club or to the Lucky Cheng's drag cabaret..."
"Whatever you prefer, I don't know the city."
"I'll have lunch with my boss and some big shots next Saturday but we can meet at Ruby's tattoo parlour at 6:30 pm. Do you remember the address?" I nod smiling, of course I do, I even found it on social media and now I follow the tattoo artist on Instagram... Although she's still ignoring me, maybe she hasn't even noticed it because she has thousands of followers. I hope we don't feel awkward when seeing each other again, I can't go out with the girls often but I'd hate to miss the opportunity of having fun with them from time to time because of a one-night-stand.
*****
"Louisa, how are you doing? Do you need help?" I've just walked into the tattoo parlour when the pretty girl with light brown hair was trying to get up from her chair leaning her hand on the reception counter but her huge belly has changed her centre of gravity and it's difficult for her to move. I run towards her as fast as my thigh high boots allow me and drop my bag to be able to offer her my arm.
"Thank you, Iselen. I'm fine, it's just that I can't get used to be so clumsy, I used to be so agile... I can't wait for this baby to be born... Have you heard me, baby girl? Mom needs you to get out of there soon..." Louisa taps on her belly with her index gently and I can't help smiling. "My doctor has told me that it can happen at any time during the next two weeks."
"Wow... Are you nervous?"
"A little but, on the other hand, I can't wait... It's horrible, I feel I have to pee every two minutes and I'm fed up with the situation."
Louisa shakes her head and leaves walking clumsily towards the back of the parlour while I watch her amused. I realize someone is laughing in one of the booths when I bend down to take my bag and I can hear the buzzing of a tattoo machine nonstop but I'm alone here in the waiting room and the receptionist is taking her time to come back. A big book with blue cover opened on the counter catches my eye and I can't help to take a look... Pictures of tattoos... dozens of pics of arms, legs, backs, breasts... full of amazing and fascinating tattoos. Most of them show shades of green, violet and pink with some touches of blue, they look like beautiful watercolours instead of real tattoos, lot of flowers and animals, some of the are abstract and look like brush strokes saturated in dark grey paint on a shoulder. Those soft colours seem to want to escape from the prison made of black lines and run through the skin freely bringing some dynamism to the designs. They're original, different, amazing... I bet this is Ruby's work.
"It's almost done, I'll see you next week..." I was so focused checking these works of art that I didn't notice a customer leaving one of the booths followed by the beautiful woman who's been haunting me in my dreams the entire month. I'd be lying if I said that I didn't feel disappointed when I realized that the night we spent together meant nothing to her and she wasn't going to call me, Ruby has a special charm that attracts everybody like a magnet and I'm not immune to her, of course. I may have picked out a very short black dress from my wardrobe and combined it with my thigh high boots despite they're uncomfortable to dance because I wanted to look good for her. "Oh, hello, Iselen. How are you doing?"
THREE (Iselen POV)
Start from the beginning
